


The Thing About Silver

by SparkleDragons



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Ango is a dragon boy, Fluff, Magnus is a snoop, Taako and kravitz have no idea how to care for a human child, dragon!angus, some cute domestic stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-10 20:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12919197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparkleDragons/pseuds/SparkleDragons
Summary: Magnus notices Angus hasn't been aging and decides to get to the bottom of it, uncovering some other strangeness along the way.





	1. Chapter 1

I had been a few months and at this point Magnus was pretty convinced something was up. About a year after the Hunger came Magnus noticed angus hadn’t changed much from how he looked in the painting Lucretia made to celebrate. Now Magnus was no genius, but he was pretty sure little boys were supposed to grow a lot and change a lot when they were only twelve. Six more months passed and still, the kid hadn’t changed at all. If Magnus really thought about it, he might even say Angus hadn’t changed since he first met him on the train.

Normally when Magnus had a mystery to solve he would go to Angus, little dude was some sort of genius when it came to stuff like that. Considering Angus was the source of this particular conundrum, that probably wasn’t an option, though. Instead, he went to the next best option, Lucretia.

And that’s where he was now, sitting in Lucretia’s office in the new, actually touching the ground, base of the B.O.B. She’d been really busy rebranding the bureau since the Day of Story and Song and looked, frankly, exhausted.

“Alright, Magnus. Tell me again what you think is so strange about Angus?”

“He’s not, like, growing? At all? I think he’s 12 now and he still looks exactly how he did when he was 10… I think. That’s weird right? I feel like that’s weird.”

Lucretia hummed contemplatively and rubbed her hand over her face. “Perhaps you’re right? To be frank with you I’ve had a lot of other things on my mind lately. You could ask Taako or Kravitz? They take care of Angus so if anyone would notice something strange it should be them.”

Magnus nodded and put the tea he was sipping down on the desk.

“Thanks, Luce. Sorry for interrupting your work and stuff,” he said sheepishly. “Oh! By the way,” Magnus said, reaching into his bag, “I made this for you a while ago but didn’t have a change to give it to you. Since you didn’t come to the dinner at Merle’s place and everything.”

Magnus pulled out the wooden duck and put it on Lucretia’s desk. It was carved from a really nice chunk of purple heart he was lucky enough to get his hands on.

“Thank you, Magnus. It’s beautiful,” Lucretia said fondly, taking the duck to admire. A smile played on her lips, though it didn’t reach her eyes. It was still rare to see that these days. “Sorry about not being able to make it to the dinner. There was an incident involving Avi reconfiguring the new airships that required my attention.”

Magnus was pretty sure she was just trying to avoid another confrontation with Taako. The two hadn’t gone to the same family meeting since last Candlenights. That had ended in a drunken shouting match no one wanted repeated. The two of them should really work out the shit between them, he figured. But if Taako was really as hurt as he claimed to be by the whole… betrayal… thing Magnus understood why he wouldn’t want to.

Magnus didn’t voice any of this. Instead he said, “It’s fine, Luce. We get you’re busy. Thanks for the advice. I’ll… uh… I’ll see you around.”

Lucretia nodded and showed him to the exit. Leaving the base was so much easier when it wasn’t floating anymore. The two shared a brief hug before Magnus set out to the train station. He’d need a ride to Goldcliff if he was going to make it to Taako’s by late afternoon. One of his work assistants was watching his house so I’d be ok if he wasn’t home for a bit longer. Johann would be sad but he’d make up for it with a lot of playtime when he got back. He made a quick call on his stone to let them know before getting on the train.

The ride was slow. He supposed any train would seem slow when the comparison was a murder mystery involving fire-breathing crabs and shitty wizard attendants. It was fine, though. Gave him time to nap and the food was good at least.

When Magnus arrived at Taako’s house he wasn’t actually sure how to approach this. Is it weird to see someone at a party one day and then visit them two days later insisting there was something wrong with their adopted kid?… Nah. They’ve known each other long enough that unannounced drop-ins are fine; encouraged even!

Magnus strutted his way up to Taako’s doorstep and gave a hardy knock. He waited for a while before knocking again. It took another five-or-so minutes before someone actually answered. Standing in the doorway was a very disgruntled looking Taako. He looked immaculate, as always, but by his posture and dazed glare Magnus figured he probably just woke up and had glamor on.

“Hi Taako! Hail and well met!”

Taako rubbed one of his eyes and motioned limply for Magnus to come in.

“Mags, I love you buddy, but what are you doing here so early?” Taako said as he dragged himself over to the couch and plopped down.

“It-it’s past noon, Taako,” Magnus said, looking around confusedly.

Taako hummed to himself and let his head hang over the back of the sofa. “How time flies, huh? It was Kravitz’s turn to get Agnes to school. What can I do for you kimosabi?”

“Hey Taako… has Angus… changed? Like, at all since we met him?”

“I’m not following you, bud.” He didn’t look up from staring at the ceiling.

“I don’t think Angus is aging. At least not at a normal human rate.” Magnus fixed Taako with an intense stare which the elf returned with his own half-lidded gaze.

“Well that’s a bit left field. But I don’t think so, my man.” His head fell back again. “Just the same little asshole as when we first saw him on the train.”

Magnus thought a moment. “But I’m pretty sure humans are supposed to grow faster at his age…”

“My dude, I have literally zero clue how you humans work, don’t ask me.” Taako shrugged and pushed himself off the couch to make his way over to the kitchen.

“What about Kravitz? He’s human… sorta… I think,” Magnus asked, following Taako out of the living room.

“Yeah he’s human. But he’s been dead for, like, a century or something. We know enough to keep Ango alive and happy. What we don’t know we usually ask Barry… sometimes Davenport. To be honest if he’s not growing it’s not that big a deal. You humans age too fast anyways.” As he talked he pulled things from cupboards, far too much to be used for normal coffee but Taako wasn’t exactly a ‘normal’ elf.

“I’m gonna look in his room,” Magnus announced, slapping his hands down on the counter and heading for the stairs.

“Magnus that’s snooping.” He didn’t look away from his concoction of sugars, creams, syrups, and spices that he passed off as coffee.

“You’re one to talk,” Magnus said. His feet creaked on every step. He should offer to fix it for them sometime.

“Kravitz won’t let me look in his room. Says it’s an ‘invasion of privacy.” Taako started up the stairs after Magnus, sipping at his ‘coffee’ as he went.

Magnus didn’t respond, only waved his hand in Taako’s direction as he pushed the door to Angus’s room open.

The room was perfectly clean, nothing on the floors, nothing out of place. The bed was so well made it didn’t even look slept in. It would be strange for any other twelve year-old but not for Angus.

“Hmm. Nothing unusual,” he mumbled, heading in to get a better look while Taako leaned against the doorframe.

“Try his dest drawer,” Taako called.

“You said not to snoop.”

“I’m not. You are. I am merely making suggestions on the best places to look.” Taako was studying his nails. “I’m blameless, bubbalah.”

Magnus hummed in response and opened the drawer of the desk he made a few months back. It slid out smoothly, as expected, to reveal a few boring pieces of paper and pencils.

“Nope,” he mumbled, heading towards the closet.

Taako leaned around the doorframe to see what discoveries the wardrobe would reveal.

“Mmmm… Cloths, cloths, shoes, hats,” Magnus mumbled, “magic stuff…” There was a pause. “Wholly shit.”

“You find something?”

Magnus pulled himself out of the closet and stared at Taako with a look of utter befuddlement. “You need to see this.”

“Oooo. Let me in on those good good secrets,” Taako responded, coming fully into the room and pushing himself into the closet.

“Hachi-machi…”

Buried in the back of Angus’s closet, behind all the normal Angus stuff, was a pile of… things. There were stacks of books, some of which Taako didn’t recognize at all. That wouldn’t be too strange in of itself, but scattered between the books was an assortment of coins, jewels, jewelry, silverware, maps, scrolls, and a number of other random junk.

“Angus is a theif. Who would have though,” Taako mumbled, going deeper into the closet to see what else was buried in there.

“I don’t think Angus is a thief, Taako. He’s a good boy,” Magnus complained, making no effort to move Taako out of the way.

“Then how do you explain this?” Taako exclaimed, displaying a shiny ladle in the air with one hand in triumph and holding out a handful of jewelry in the other.

He points to the ladle. “Lost this baby a month ago. Just disappeared; poof. Figured I’d left it at Lup’s house and she was hiding it.”

He gestures to the assorted necklaces and bracelets with the ladle. “These are all mine. Admittedly didn’t notice them go. Saw a few of Kravitz’s things back there, too. Kid’s got sticky fingers, Mags.”

“Ok I’m sure there’s a good reason for all of this,” Magnus said, pushing his way in to see for himself. He shuffled around in the pile a bit, the clinking of the metal meshing with the crinkle of paper. Taako paced the room behind him, mumbling about other stuff he’s lost recently.

“Taako, what the fuck is this?” He said and pulled out with said ‘this’ in one hand.

Taako looked at the strange object with curiosity. It was an almost flat, slightly rough, silver disk. It wasn’t actual sliver, though; Magnus was sure of that. It didn’t feel like silver or have the weight this much silver would. It was more like… bone? Maybe?

“Where in the twelve planes did that little twerp get his hands on a dragon scale?” Taako said, snatching the scale and turning it around in his hands.

“There’s, like, a lot more back there,” Magnus said, glancing around nervously. That was a very good question. If those things were dragon scales, where did he get it? Dragons are not exactly the type to hand their scales out willy-nilly, especially to little boys who wear their wands on a laniard.

“Are you shitting me?” Taako huffed. He tossed the first scale on the bed and delved back into the wardrobe.

Magnus heard the door open downstairs while Taako was still digging around. He looked at the clock and sucked in a breath. It was about the time when Angus got home from school. He knew from babysitting a few weeks back while Taako and Kravitz went on vacation.

“Taako,” he hissed into the closet. Taako waved him away. Magnus heard feet coming up the steps. “Taaaakoooo,” he said more urgently.

“What? Magnus?” Taako said, pulling himself out and looking up at Magnus, arms full of dragon scales.

“Angus is-“ His words are cut off by Angus walking into the room.

Magnus turned sheepishly to look at him, guilt plastered across his face. Angus wasn’t look at him, though. He was staring wide-eyed and horrified at Taako.

“You got some explaining to do Ango,” Taako said as he let the scales fall to the floor with a definitive clunk.

“I-I…. Um… I can… It’s part of a… part of… part of a case I’m working on,” Angus stuttered, dropping his school books and lunging for the scales on the floor. He started shoving them hastily into the closet, but before he could hide them again Taako moved his foot between Angus and the door.

“Uh-huh. I fail to see how at least 10,000 gold pieces worth of gems, the ladle I lost two months ago, a large assortment of Kravitz’s and my jewelry have something to do with a case. Not to mention, like, ten silver dragon scales.”

Magnus looked around uncomfortably for something to do in this situation. He landed on shuffling slowly out of the room, hoping neither of them would notice.

“Nope! You stay right here yah big lug,” Taako said. He pointed an accusatory finger at Magnus, not taking his gaze of Angus. “Maggi here says you haven’t been growing like a normal human boy should, either. Spill. What’s the deal?”

Angus got slowly to his feet and started to wring his hands together. “I… needed to compare some of your things to some of the evidence? And… I’m half… uh,” he said, clearly grasping at straws.

Taako ran a hand over his face. “Ango, you might be the world’s greatest detective but you are a terrible liar.”

Angus sighed, defeated. “Ok, Mr. Taako.”

Taako sighed and quietly said, “stop with the ‘Mr.,’ boychik.”

“Sorry, Taako. Ok. Uh… I’ll tell you, but we should probably go to the living room. There’s more space there,” Angus said, leading the way out of the room.

Taako flashed Magnus an inquisitive glance before following the kid out the room, leaving him alone.

Magnus sucked in a breath and glanced at the closet again before slowly following the two of them out and down the stairs.

The three of them gathered in the living room and Angus enlisted Magnus’s help moving the coffee table to make more room for… what ever it was he was about to show them. When the space was cleared, Angus had Magnus and Taako sit on the sofa.

“Ok. Before I show you, promise you won’t tell anyone. If I tell everybody else I would like to do it on my own, please.”

Magnus looked over to Taako and nodded before looking back at Angus.

“Yeah, sure little dude. Now tell papa Taako what’s going on,” Taako huffed. He was giving Angus an expecting look. Magnus tried to counter it with a encouraging smile of his own.

“Ok…” Angus breathed. He sucked in a breath and shut his eyes tight, balling his hands into fists.

And Angus changed. His body was enveloped in a light glow as his face grew long and fanged. Small horns sprouted from his head. A tail emerged from his lower back and large, webbed wings grew higher up. His back hunched as his legs shifted and he dropped to all-fours. He got bigger and bigger and a low rumbling started from his chest. He shook himself out and glow fadded.

Standing in Taako’s living room was a young silver dragon. Even being clearly young, he was still at least the size of a Saint Bernard; if a Saint Bernard had wings and claws and horns and fangs and scales. Angus’s usually far-too-large glasses were perched precariously on his snout, his hat similarly positioned between his tiny horns.

“What. The Shit.” Taako said, not taking his eyes off the winged reptile that just emerged from what he had previously assumed to be a human boy.

Magnus just started to yell at a steadily rising volume.

“Please don’t be mad!” Angus’s voice had a slight, unfamiliar rumble to it but it was definitely still him. “I promise I was going to tell you eventually! I just didn’t know how. I guess this works.”

“You’re a drag-Magnus stop shouting. You’re a dragon!?”

“I’m still very young, but yes.”

“And you’ve been stealing my stuff to add to your hoard.”

“Yeeessss…” Angus said sheepishly, shuffling his claws together. “Sorry, Taako. I just really, really liked those things.”

“Hachi-machi,” Taako said and put his head in his hands.

“You’re mad. I knew you’d be mad. I’m sorry. You can have your stuff back. I can… I can go.” Angus’s head hung low as he started to make his way to the stairs.

“No!” Taako shouted, stopping Angus in his tracks. “I’m… I’m not mad. I just-“ He started laughing to himself, earning strange looks from both Angus and Magnus.

“You-you good Taako? I… I… Shit this is a lot to take in, Angus,” Magnus said, slumping back against the couch.

‘I’m fine. But Gods how can we take care of a dragon?” Taako threw his hands in the air and got up from the couch. He put his hands on either side of Angus’s head and moved it around a bit. “We barely understood how humans work. How are we gonna do this?”

“I’d understand if you don’t want to bother with it. I can-“

“Don’t even continue that thought, Angus. We’re not just gonna dump you on the street. We’ll figure it out,” Taako said, patting him on the upper leg. “Maybe Carrie knows something?”

Angus huffed a laugh, a strange sort of huffing noise from the back of his throat, and tears started to well in his eyes. He lifted his head to rest it on Taako’s shoulder. Taako complied and wrapped his arms around as much of Angus as he could. Seeing this display of affection he was not a part of, Magnus made a noise of complaint from the couch. Taako looked over at him with a half lidded stare

“Alright get in here you big lump,” he conceded. Magnus didn’t hesitate to spring from the couch and wrap his arms around Taako and Angus.

“I promise I won’t take your stuff without asking anymore,” Angus said into Taako’s shoulder.

“Sounds good.” Taako paused. “You’re giving me back my ladle, though,” he whispered in Angus’s ear.

Angus laughed again, an action that shook the three of them ever-so-slightly. “But I like that one,” he whined.

“We’ll talk about it.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reaper squad is surprisingly good at keeping a secret. Angus goes shopping. Taako has a rare moment of vulnerability.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. I honestly don't know what to say to the overwhelming support this little fic has gotten. All your comments kept me going on writing this second chapter. I didn't always know what to say so I didn't respond to all of them but I promise I read and love every single one. All my love to anyone who takes the time to read this.

The three of them sat around the kitchen table. Angus was back in his human form, it just proved to be more convenient for the moment, and nursing a cup of special hot cocoa (chocolate mint with homemade peppermint whipped cream). Magnus was clearly trying not to stare so much, although he was at it again at that moment.

 

“Magnus, stop analyzing the kid, he asked you a question,” Taako scolded. Honestly sometimes he didn’t understand what went through Magnus’s head.

 

Magnus blinked and turned awkwardly away, very pointedly trying to not look at Angus. “S-sorry. What?”

 

“I asked if you were mad about me not using the bed you made. It’s really very nice, Sir but I find my hoard to be much more comfortable…” Angus was fiddling with his thumbs, very clearly not prepared to have this conversation. Doesn’t matter. Needs to be had.

 

“Oh. Right. Um. It’s cool, Ango. I would have made something better if I had known you were a… dragon…” 

 

He dragged the last word out and, yeah, Taako couldn’t blame him. This was a lot. Like he’d been living with and taking care of a dragon for a year and a half? What the fuck? If he was being honest it explained a lot. The absurdly large helpings for such a small kid, the bed that always, always looked perfectly made even at the crack of dawn, the disappearing silverware, the pointed lack of coins under the couch cushions when he went searching. He assumed most of it was just weird Angus stuff. Turns out it was normal dragon stuff, not that it made it any less weird overall.

 

“Ok so we can move the bed. That’s fine. No need for you to keep sleeping in a fucking cupboard like fantasy Harry Potter or some shit. How-uh. How big do silver dragons get? Like are we gonna need to do some fantasy home-improvement as you get older?”

 

“Silver dragons are the largest metallic dragons, Taako,” Agnus said. Noticing Taako’s minor look of worry Angus quickly added, “But since I’m past my wyrmling stage my growth is much slower than most creatures. I’m only about 10 now so it’ll be a while before I have to move out of my current room.”

 

“Now hold on. I thought you were, like, 12?” Magnus said, something Taako didn’t even think about with all that was going on.

 

Agnus looked a bit sheepish at that. “Well… When you tell people you’re only eight and alone their interest in you goes from ‘kid who doesn’t know much’ to ‘kid who needs to be protected and saved.’ I’ve found the former is much more useful for investigation.”

 

“Right, right,” Taako rested his head in his hand and let out a long sigh. “So is there anything other than sleeping situations you want-“

 

He was cut off by the unmistakable sound of reality tearing. He looked up at the small rift forming in the living room from which a small, but very bright, light emerged. The light quickly reformed itself, taking the shape of a familiar human dressed in an unnecessarily dramatic feathered cloak and ornamented with with varying pieces of gold jewelry.

 

“Well fuck,” Taako said.

 

“Thats… not exactly the welcome home I expected but alright,” Kravitz said. He walked into the kitchen and leaned down to peck Taako on the cheek. “Hi, Taako.”

 

He then made his way over to where Angus was sitting and similarly kissed him on his head. “How was school, Angus?”

 

“It was fine, Mr. Kravitz,” Angus said, not seeming at all worried about the conflicting situations.

 

“Hello, Magnus. What brings you here? Uh-So soon after Merle’s place…” Kravitz took a seat at the kitchen counter, the available ones at the table taken.

 

“Well. Um. You see…” Magnus stumbled over his words and Taako’s ears twitched. Kravitz should know. He’s taking care of Ango too. It would make things easier.

 

“Angus I think we should-“ Taako started.

 

“Taako and Mr. Magnus know I’m a dragon now,” Agnus cut him off. He said it very matter-of-factly and punctuated it with a sip of cocoa, as if telling Kravitz wasn’t some big revelation. It earned him stares from both Taako and Magnus.

 

“Oh?” Kravitz sounded much less surprised than he should have. “Well that will make things easier. Should we move your bed now?”

 

“Hold up,” Taako said, standing up from the table to fix Kravitz with a hard stare. “You knew?”

 

Kravitz nods a bit uncomfortably. “I’m a reaper, Taako. If I couldn’t tell the true race of a creature by looking at them I wouldn’t be very good at my job. It’s like a naturally built in True Sight. I sort of knew since I met Angus.”

 

“And you didn’t tell me? What the fuck my dude!”

 

“I-uh. Didn’t think it was my place to tell people. I mean. I talked to Angus about it and he said he wanted to tell you himself when he was ready.”

 

Taako ran his hands over his face. “Alright. That’s fine I guess… Wait… Do all reapers have this ‘natural True Sight’?” Taako could see Kravitz suck in a breath he knew he didn’t need. “Kraaaaviiiitz,” Taako drawled; "did my dear sister and brother-in-law know about this little secret?”

 

“Uh. I mean…” Taako knocked an eyebrow, fixing Kravitz with a knowing stare. “They never toooollld me? But I can assume they would…”

 

“Lup is gonna get so much fucking shit for this. Barold too. He’s a part of this family and I can’t be the only one in it not knowing Angus is a dragon,” Taako huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting like he was 40.

 

“Taako don’t be a child. Angus needed to tell you in his own time and he did,” Kravitz scolded.

 

“Weeeeellllll,” Magnus looked out the kitchen window sheepishly.

 

“He did tell you on his own right?” It was Kravitz’s turn to give a raised eyebrow and Taako’s to fix Magnus with a cold ‘don’t you dare’ stare.

 

Magnus was visibly struggling not to rat out the two of them for snooping. Taako knew he wouldn’t be able to do it. “We were snooping!” he blurts.

 

“Taako. We talked about giving Angus his privacy,” Kravitz gets up and presses his nose into Taako’s hair.

 

“I know, I know. Sorry Ango,” Taako mumbled, tilting his head back to give Kravitz a light kiss.

 

“I’m actually extremely beat up about it, Taako. I think maybe an addition to my hoard might be the only way to make me feel better.”

 

Taako let his head slowly drop to meet Angus’s devious stare. “You little shit,” he said not unkindly. “You’re learning.” Taako thinks for a moment, over exaggeratedly tapping a finger to his chin and humming. “Alright I’ll break you a deal. You give me back my ladle and my choice of stollen jewelry and you and I go to the market tomorrow with… lets say… a 15,000 gold piece budget?”

 

Taako could see the deep concentration it takes for Angus to consider this.  He must really love his ladle. Well that was just too bad because it was Taako’s favorite ladle too, dragons be damned.

 

“Sounds fair to me, Taako,” Angus said extending a hand. Taako took it and gave it a firm shake before starting to laugh. “Wanna stay for dinner, Maguns? I think I’ll make rosemary burgers.”

 

Magnus visibly perked up at the prospect. “Yeah sure, Taako! Let me just call my dog-sitter!” He rushed out of the room before anyone could get another word in.

 

Kravitz hummed and went to put his hand on Angus’s shoulder. “Let’s go move your bed out of the way so you can stop sleeping in a closet.”

 

Angus responded with an enthusiastic nod and jumped up to run ahead. Taako could hear his feet creaking on his way up the steps. Then, thanks to elven hearing, he caught the tell-tail sound of jewelry and coins being moved around.

 

Kravitz followed Angus out a bit slower pausing to say, “We got this, Taako,” before making his way up the steps himself.

 

Taako let out a long sigh and started taking out the ingredients for Angus’s favorite burgers. They could do this. They were literal death and Taako from TV. They could take care of a dragon.

 

~~~~~

 

The market was busy, like always. But Taako had a certain air about him that got people to move out of the way. Maybe it was being famous across multiple planer systems? Maybe he was just that good-looking? Who was he to say?

 

Taako led Angus by his hand to one of the best jewelry stores in Goldcliff. He had tied a bandana around Angus’s eyes so he could surprise him. He wanted to make this special. Wasn’t every day a he found out his kid was a fucking dragon. Heartren Jewels was one of those places Taako used to dream of buying from and now that he actually could most of the things he wore came from there. That meant most of the things Angus stole were bought there as well.

 

“Alright Ango. You can take off the blindfold.” Taako waited and looked down at the kid to watch his expression.

 

Angus’s eyes went wide as moons when he saw where Taako had brought him. “I-I don’t know what to say, Taako. I don’t think I could ask you to buy me something from here.”

 

Taako could see how Agnus’s eyes lingered on a particularly large sapphire pendant set in silver near the left wall as he said that. 

 

“Mmmhm. Well you’ve already taken dozens of things from this place off my dresser sooooo. Take your pick, bubalah.”

 

“To be frank with you, Taako, Mr. Kravitz did only give me the things he knew you wouldn’t miss.”

 

Taako hummed and made a mental note to maybe only buy things he actually wants instead of things he sees while browsing and never actually wears. Also to talk to Kravitz about taking his shit. Or… telling Angus which shit to take. Same difference.

 

“Fair enough, kid. But still. Taako still wants to get you something, which is a rare offer. Take it before I change my mind.”

 

Taako could see Angus scanning his face in that funny little detective way he does. It used to annoy him how he analyzed everything but after a wile it became sort of endearing. It was even more interesting now that Taako knew a few of those questioning glances were Angus looking into how non-dragons behave. Little more weird, but Taako was down. It wasn’t uncommon for Lup and him to sit and watch the rest of the crew when they first set out on the Starblaster. Maybe it was an orphan thing?

 

He figured Agnus got what he needed from the way his expression shifted from one of steely calculation to a massive grin. He quickly darted over to the sapphire he had his eyes on, incurring some irritated glances from the posh, stuck up, wealthy folk browsing the store.

 

“I know it’s kind of big but I really like how it shines in the light and my Grandpa had something like this in his hoard that I used to play with when I was just a little boy and I understand if it’s too much and you don’t want to buy it so I can choose something else if you-“

 

Taako cut off Angus’s little rant by putting his hand up and waving over a sales associate, a flighty gnomish man who looked about ready to bolt when he recognized who was asking for his attention.

 

“Uhhh. How much for the pendent here my man?”

 

“That, um. That would be 10,000 gold pieces, Taako Sir.”

 

Taako huffed a little laugh, always good to be recognized by a fan, which had become a far more common occurrence since his existence had been projected into the minds of literally over a hundred planer systems. 

 

“Please. Just Sir is fine” Taako said, taking note of the little side-glare Angus gave him. The kid could honestly shut it. Taako was fucking famous and far be it from him not to take advantage of it. “I think I’ll take this little trinket off your hands. Agnus here has been looking for something nice.”

 

The gnomish man seemed almost surprised by Angus’s presence next to Taako. Angus gave the man a polite nod before going back to admiring the craftsmanship of the piece. It really was gorgeous.

 

“Of course, ah, Sir. If you’ll just follow me to the counter.”

 

While Taako payed, Angus spent his time wandering the store and taking in all the assorted gems and metals carved into jewelry of all origins. The section of elven craft was his favorite. The way the, mostly silvers, twisted to hold the gems as if it had formed that way was incredibly enticing. Part of him wanted to just take everything in the store but he was a good boy and knew that wasn’t how things worked. He might steal the occasional trinket off Taako but this was a business, even if the people inside gave him strange looks due to his age.

 

“Alright, Ango. Ready to head out?”

 

Taako’s voice from behind startled Angus out of staring at intricate craft of a gnomish broach.

 

“Oh! Alright, Taako,” Angus said, adjusting his cap back into its proper position on his head.

 

Taako looked over his shoulder at the display case he was marveling at and taped a finger to his chin. “We could get you that broach, too, if you wanted kiddo?”

 

“That’s very kind of you, Taako, but I was actually hoping to get a full silverware set with the rest of the budget you gave me? My grandpa collected silverware so it’d be nice.” Angus watched Taako carefully, nervously, as he said it. He took note of the way his ears flicked guiltily at the mention of his grandpa’s silverware. Angus was a very good detective and he’d figured out very quickly Taako had sold his grandpa’s set off to Garfield long ago. Unfortunately he wasn’t great at bargaining and hadn’t had the money to buy it back straight. It disappeared along with the strange warlock on the Day of Story and Song.

 

“That-uh. That was a piece of a dragon hoard, huh? Sheesh.” Taako rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “Uhhhhh. Yeah why not. If it’ll keep you out of my stuff we’ll do that.” Taako lead Angus lazily away from the store and said, “I know a place that’ll have what you’re looking for, Ango. It’s where I get all my best utensils.” A pause. “Including that ladle you took.”

 

“To be fair, Taako, Lup did take it. She just gave to me right after.”

 

“I’m gonna have to have a talk with a certain pair of reapers about keeping crucial info from me. Like how my kid’s a fucking dragon.”

 

“Your kid, Taako?”

 

Taako froze, his ears pointing directly up in surprise? embarrassment? If he would just turn around maybe Angus could get a better read on him.

“Uh….” He turned around slowly, face as calm and collected as always despite how easily his ears give him away… Pride… Angus thought. “What I mean is…” Taako pauses again. “Hachi-machi…” Taako put his head in his hands and Angus could only just hear him mumble, “can’t believe I’m doing this…” He picked his head up and put his hands on Angus’s shoulders. “Yeah. My kid.”

 

Angus couldn’t help but beam up at Taako’s awkward smile. “Taako, I-I… Taako I don’t know what to say to that.” Angus could feel happy tears to welling in the corners of his eyes. He wasn’t able to help but push forward to wrap his arms around Taako, burying his head in his chest.

 

He could feel Taako’s hesitancy for just a moment, but the elf’s hands found themselves placed similarly on Angus’s back. It was brief but in that moment Angus was barely aware of the crowd mindlessly weaving themselves around the pair of them.

 

Then Taako, not unkindly, broke away and said, “Alright, Agnes, don’t let it get to your head. You _are_ still a dragon.”

 

Angus laughs and rubs his eyes with his palms. “Your dragon, Taako.”

 

“Fuck I gotta talk to Carey about this. Maybe she knows someone.”

 

Taako started off down the street again like nothing happened. Angus could appreciate his moments of vulnerability, however brief. It’s nice, he thought, knowing he belonged somewhere even after his secret got out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh I was originally gonna have some conflict in this but I think I've decided to make this and any future possible chapters purely fluff. ; ) Feel free to talk to me at sparkledragons.tumblr.com
> 
> Also go check this out!: http://infernaltwink.tumblr.com/post/169745782143/taz-moodboards-pt-4-of-4  
> @infernaltwink on tumblr made a moodboard for this and a ton of other fics! They're all really good (along with the fics they're for) so definitely go check them out : D

**Author's Note:**

> I am strongly considering adding a second chapter. I have some stuff with Kravitz I was gonna do but didn't really fit in this part. My tumblr is @SparkleDragons if you have questions. : P


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